Road reconditioning machine



Jan, 14, 1936. B. H. FLYNN 2,027,685

ROAD RECONDITIONING MACHINE Filed 061?. 25. 1934 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Jan. 14, 1936.

B. H. FLYNN 2,027,685

ROAD RECONDITIONING MACHINE Filed Oct. 25, 1934 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jan. 14, 1936. B H. FLYNN 2,027,685

ROAD RECONDITIONING MACHINE Filed Oct. 25. 1954 4Shets-5heet s Jan. 14, 1936. B. H. FLYNN ROAD RECONDITIONING MACHINE Filed Oct. 25. 1934 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented Jan. 14, 1936 'UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ROAD RECONDITIONING MACHINE Benjamin H. Flynn, Alexandria, La. Application October 25, 1934, Serial No. 749,983

'1 Claims. (01. 37-108) The invention relates to a new and improved machine designed primarily for hewing off rough wavy and worn out surfaces of asphaltic gravel and similar roadways and leaving the pre-settled and pre-compacted roadbed with an accurate surface upon which to refinish the road.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a novel machine of the class set forth which will travel upon the accurate surface which it prepares upon the road bed instead of requiring tracks for the machine to run upon.

A further object is to provide a machine of such structure that the hewing means thereof may be readily adjusted in any necessary manner to attain the desired transverse configuration of the road and to properly hew on convex and concave road curvatures existing on crests of hills and in the depressions between hills, respectively.

Yet another object is to provide novel indicating 0 means whereby the operator of the machine may at any time determine the setting of the hewing means so that it may be adjusted as required to produce the desired grade.

A still further object is to provide a machine 25 which may by a very simple change be driven directly upon the old surface of a roadway and used to dig up said surface for a substantially uniform depth without regard to leaving an accurate surface on the road bed, merely allowing the sur- 30 face materials to be salvaged for use elsewhere.

With the foregoing and minor objects in view, the invention resides in the novel subject matter hereinafter described and claimed, description being accomplished by reference to the accom- 35 panying drawings.

Fig. 1 is a top plan view partly in horizontal section showing a machine constructed in accordance with the invention.

Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view 40 substantially on line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse sectional view on line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary side elevation showing part of the driving means for the rotatable hew- 45 ing cutter,

Fig. 5 is a side elevation showing the same machine equipped with a heater for softening asphaltic roadways before hewing off the surfaces thereof.

50 Fig. 6 is a side elevation partly broken away and in section showing the machine conditioned for traveling upon the old surface of a roadway instead of upon the surface prepared by the machine. 55 Fig. 7 is a side elevation pmerely illustrating a different supporting and propelling means for the machine.

The features of construction selected for llustration will be rather specifically described, with the understanding however that numerous vari- 5 ations may be made wtihin the scope of the invention as claimed.

The machine is provided with an appropriate frame 8 carried by appropriate supporting and propelling means which may consist of front and 10 rear Wheels 9 and II) respectively or of endless tread members I I trained around suitable sprockets I2 and I3 (Fig. 7). The front end of the frame 8 carries hewing means l4 preferably in the form of a rotary cutter having chisel-like l5 teeth l5. The hewing means I4 is adapted to hew off the rough or wornout surface It of an asphaltic, gravel or similar roadway, providing the road bed I! with an accurate surface l8 upon which to refinish the road. The machine includes means behind the hewing means M for so moving at least some of the hewn off material l9 (Fi 2) as to form a relatively smooth path upon the newly formed surface l8, along-which path the supporting and propelling means of the machine travels so that tracks along the edges of the roadway are unnecessary. In the present disclosure, short scrapers 20 are provided in advance of the wheels 9 or 13, as the case may be, to laterally scrape some of the hewn off fragments l9, preparing a relatively smooth path for the supporting and propelling means. It will be understood however that in place of the scraper blades 20, other suitable means could be provided for attaining the desired end.

.Actuating means is provided on the frame 8 for driving the propelling means and the hewing means and suitable provision is made for steering and for adjusting the hewing means as required. In the present showing, a gas engine 2! is mount- 40 ed on the frame 8 and is operatively connected with appropriate transmission mechanism 22 including suitable variable speed and reverse gearing. By a chain 23 and sprockets engaged therewith, the transmission mechanism drives a front axle 24 to which the front wheels 9 may be connected by suitable clutches 25, actuating levers for said clutches being represented at 26. The wheels 9 are free to rotate upon the axle 24 and while ordinarily both of said wheels are driven by their respective clutches 25, throwing out one clutch or the other will assist in steering the ma.- chine. Any appropriate steering mechanism 21 may be provided for the rear wheels Ill the steering wheel of said mechanism being shown at 28. 5

When the endless traction members I I are employed, steering is of course effected in the usual way only by driving one or the other of said members or in any other appropriate way.

By means of a suitable clutch 29, the transmission mechanism 22 drives a transverse shaft 30 having a sprocket 3I, said sprocket being connected by a chain 32 with a sprocket 33 on one end of the rotary hewing means I4. While provision is made for vertically adjusting -this hewing means, means are also provided, hereinafter described, to prevent loosening of the chain 32 as said hewing means is raised.

The front end of the frame 8, in the present disclosure, rigidly carries a transversely elongated hood 34 in which the rotary hewing means I4 is rotatably and adjustably mounted, said hood being open at its front side and at its bottom, but being provided with a top plate 35, a rear wall 36 and two end walls 31. The scrapers or the like 20 may well be secured to the lower portion of the back wall 36 and it is preferable that the end walls 31 be formed by the front portions of two parallel vertical plates 38 which are rigidly secured to and project downwardly from a rectangular top frame 39 included in the general frame structure 8 of the machine. This top frame 39 is preferably provided with a cover plate 40.

Secured to the top frame 39 and to the hood end walls 31, are vertical guides H with which slides 42 are engaged, said slides being provided with self-aligning bearings 43 (Fig. 3) in which stub shafts 44 and 45 on the ends of the rotary hewing means I4, are rotatably mounted. This hewing means includes a drum 46 carrying suitable clamps for the teeth I5, and the shafts 44 and 45 are suitably secured in the ends of said drum as denoted at 48 in Fig. 3. While independent means are provided for adjusting the ends of the hewing means I4 vertically, no binding of the shafts 44 and 45 takes place due to the use of conventional self-alining bearings 43.

While the adjusting means for the hewing means I4 could take any suitable form, I prefer to secure screws 49 to the upper ends of the slides 42 and to engage these screws with sleeves 50 which are swiveled at 5| upon the side bars of the top frame 39, said sleeves being provided with hand wheels 52. By merely rotating the hand wheels 52, the hewing means I4 may be vertically adjusted as desired, and it will be seen that both ends of said hewing means may be raised or lowered uniformly or that either end may be raised or lowered independently of the other end, so as to adjust the hewing means to meet all requirements.

As it is advisable that the operator shall be able to determine the setting or position of the hewing means I4 at any time, a number of indicators are provided to aid him in such determinations, as will now be described.

A transverse indicator support 53 is provided above the hood 34 and by means of appropriate brackets or the like 54, the ends of said support 53 are connected with the adjusting means for the ends of the hewing means I4, the brackets or the like 54 being shown secured at their lower" ends to the screws 49 and provided at their upper ends with guides 55 which slidably surround the sleeves 50. The support 53 may well be in the form of a rod constructed from telescopic sections, the ends of said rod being pivoted at 56 to the upper ends of the brackets or the like 54. It is thus insured that the support 53 shall at all times remain parallel with the axis of the hewing means I4. Therefore, by mountingan appropriate indicator 5'! upon the support 53, the degree of inclination of the hewing means I4 may be determined at a glance. The actual structure of the indicating means 57 may be of any appropriate form but for illustrative purposes, it is shown as provided with a curved gauge glass 55 having graduations 59, said glass containing a liquid and an air bubble 60, said bubble being cooperable with the graduations 59.

Another indicator BI (Figs. 1 and 3) which may be similar to the indicator 51, is provided to show the vertical position of the hewing means I4 with regard to the surface upon which the supporting and traction means travels. In the present showing, this indicator BI is carried by a longitudinal- 1y extending lever or the like 62 which is pivoted at 63 to the frame of the machine, said lever or the like being also pivoted at 64 to one of the brackets 54. It will thus be seen that as the hewing means I4 is raised and lowered, the lever 62 is swung vertically, moving the indicator 6|. It thus follows that by reading this indicator, the extent of vertical adjustment of the hewing means may be determined.

A third indicator 65 is provided on the main frame of the machine to determine whether the surface I8 is being formed on the true grade dictated by the usual surveyors grade stakes (not shown) placed along the highway being reconditioned. If the grade stakes call for say a two per cent grade and the indicator 65 shows that the machine is at the proper inclination for producing such grade, no adjustment is necessary, but should the indicator show a grade different than two percent, it is obvious that the defect must be corrected by proper adjustment of the rotary hewing means I4. In traveling over the crest of a hill, the hewing means I4 must obviously be so adjusted as to produce the necessary convex curvature, which curvature is given by the grade stakes. Suitable adjustments must also be made for cutting the concave curvature, for instance, between hills or at the juncture of the lower end of a hill with a horizontal stretch.

It will be seen from the foregoing that a novel and advantageous machine has been provided for carrying out the objects of the invention. Attention however is further directed to the possibility of making numerous variations over the present disclosure. If desired, a hood 66 carried by a suitable frame 61 and enclosing a burner 68, may be used with the machine as shown in Fig. 5, the heat from the burner serving to soften the asphaltic roadway so that the worn-out surface may be more easily hewn therefrom.

Whenever it is desired to merely dig up w or loosen the top surface of a roadway without regard to producing an accurate surface upon the road bed, merely allowing re-use of the surface material, the rotary hewing means I4 may be turned end for end so that its teeeth I5 face in the other direction. Then, by propelling the machine in the direction shown by the arrow in Fig. 6, upon the roadway 69, and of course, rotating the hewing means I4 in the proper direction, the top material of said roadway will be dug up to substantially a uniform depth.

In using the machine for reconditioning wornout asphaltic, gravel and similar roadways, which is its principal use, said machine is driven in the direction indicated by the arrows in Figs. 1, 2, 5,

and '7, the rotary hewing means I4 being at the front of the machine and the supporting and propelling means behind said hewing means to travel upon the relatively smooth path prepared by the scrapers or the like 20. When merely digging up the surface of a roadway to salvage the surface material however, without regard to producing an accurate top surface on the road bed, the machine is driven as shown by the arrow in Fig. 6.

I have above referred to means for preventing loosening of the chain 32 upon raising of the hewing means I4, which means will now be described by reference to Fig. 4. In this view, denotes a jockey pulley or sprocket engaging the non-driving reach of the chain 32, said jockey pulley or sprocket being carried by one end of an arm H which is swingable about the shaft 45, being provided with a suitable bearing 12 through which said shaft extends. This arm H is disposed at the outer side of one of the end walls 31 of the hood 34, and said arm and end wall are provided with co-acting means 13-44 for so swinging the arm H as the shaft 45 is raised or lowered, as to cause the jockey 10 to take up the slack in the chain 32. The means 13 is preferably a cam slot in the arm 12 and the means 14 may be a stud or the like carried by the wall 31.

If desired, instead of using scraper blades or the like 20, for moving the cut material out of the path of the supporting and propelling means, a drag conveyor or other conveyor could be employed to drag or carry said material oil. to one or both sides of the machine. Furthermore, while the machine has been herein described for certain specific purposes, it can of course be used for other purposes, for instance, grading.

I claim:

1. A machine for removing a surface from a roadway, comprising a frame, a hood extending transversely of and rigidly carried by one end of said frame, said hood being open toward said one end of said frame and also open downwardly, said hood having end walls provided with vertical guideways, slides ehgaged with said guideways, independent means for vertically adjusting said slides, a rotary cutter in said hood having its ends supported by said slides, supporting and propelling means carrying said frame, and actuating means on said frame for said cutter and said propelling means.

2. A machine for removing a rough surface from a roadway, comprising a frame, a rotary cutter carried by the front end of said frame and having projecting chisel-like teeth for hewing off the rough surface and providing the road bed with an accurate surface, supporting and propelling means carrying said frame and positioned behind said rotary cutter to travel upon the newly formed accurate surface of the road bed, means for vertically adjusting either or both ends of said rotary cutter, and actuating means on said frame for said cutter and said propelling means; together with indicating means mounted on said frame for showing the relation of said frame with respect to the horizontal, indicating means operatively connected with said cutter adjusting means for showing the relation of said rotary cutter with respect to the horizontal, and

indicating means operatively connected with said cutter adjusting means for showing the extent of vertical adjustment of said cutter with respect to said frame.

3. A machine for removing a rough surface from a roadway, comprising a frame, a rotary cutter carried by the front end of said frame and having projecting chisel-like teeth for hewing off the rough surface and providing the road bed with an accurate surface, supporting and propelling means carrying said frame and positioned behind said rotary cutter to travel upon the newly formed accurate surface of the road bed, means for vertically adjusting either or both ends of said rotary cutter, and actuating means on said frame for said cutter and said propelling l means; together with a longitudinal indicator support pivoted at one end to said frame, means pivotally connecting the other end of said indicator support with the means for vertically adjusting one end of said cutter to cause pivotal movement of said indicator support when the cutter is vertically adjusted, and an indicator mounted on said indicator support for showing the extent of vertical adjustment of the cutter.

4. A surface removing machine comprising a frame having laterally spaced rigidly mounted vertical guideways at one of its ends, slides engaged with said guideways, independent means for vertically adjusting said slides, said adjusting means including two vertical rotatable sleeves mounted on said frame above said slides and two screws fixed to said slides and threaded into said sleeves respectively, a driven cutter having its ends supported by said slides, two brackets secured to and projecting upwardly from said screws respectively, said brackets having guides slidably surrounding said sleeves, a transverse horizontal rod pivoted at its ends to said brackets respectively, a level indicator mounted on said rod, and supporting and propelling means for said frame.

5. A surface removing machine comprising a frame having laterally spaced rigidly mounted vertical guideways at one of its ends, slides engaged with said guideways, independent means for vertically adjusting said slides, said adjusting means including two vertical rotatable sleeves mounted on said frame above said slides and two screws fixed to said slides and threaded into said sleeves respectively, a driven cutter having its ends supported by said slides, two brackets secured to and rising from said screws respectively, said brackets having guides slidably surrounding said sleeves, a transverse horizontal rod pivoted at its ends to said brackets respectively, a level indicator mounted on said rod, a longitudinal lever pivoted at one end to said frame and pivoted at its other end to one of said brackets, a second level indicator mounted on said lever, and supporting and propelling means for said frame.

6. A surface removing machine comprising a horizontal top frame, supporting and propelling means therefor, two longitudinal side plates rigidly secured to said top frame and extending substantially throughout the length thereof, said side plates extending downwardly into close proximity with the surface upon which said sup porting and propelling means travels, vertical guideways carried by said side plates at one end thereof, slides engaged with said guideways respectively, a rotary cutter between said side plates and having its ends supported by said slides, a motor mounted on said top frame, and driving connections from said motor to said cutter and said supporting and propelling means.

7. A surface removing machine comprising a horizontal top frame, supporting and propelling means therefor, two longitudinal side plates rigidly secured to said top frame and extending substantially throughout the length thereof, said side" propelling means travels, vertical guideways carried by said side plates at one end thereof, slides engaged with said guldeways respectively, a rotary cutter between said side plates and having its ends supported by said slides, a vertical transverse plate behind said rotary cutter and rigidly secured at its ends to said side plates, a top plate secured to said top frame. and disposed over said cutter, said vertical transverse plate, said topplate and the portions of said side plates carrying said guideways constituting a. hood Ior said cutter, a motor on said top frame, and driving connections from said motor to said driving and 5 propelling means and said cutter.

BENJAMIN H. FLYNN. 

